February 28, 2007
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters has asked that the Department's independent Inspector General review two recent cases of airlines leaving passengers stranded on board aircraft for hours.
The Secretary said in her request that she was concerned about a December incident involving American Airlines during which passengers were forced to remain aboard the aircraft for more than six hours. She also noted that scores of passengers were stranded aboard JetBlue aircraft during a Valentine's Day snow and ice storm at New York's JFK International Airport.
"I have serious concerns about airlines' contingency planning that allows passengers to sit on the tarmac for hours on end," said Peters. "It is imperative that airlines do everything possible to ensure that situations like these do not occur again."
The Secretary asked Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel to examine the airlines' customer service commitments, contracts of carriage and policies dealing with extended ground delays aboard aircraft and to provide his assessment on why the American and JetBlue situations occurred.
Peters requested specific recommendations from the Inspector General for what airlines, airports and the government, including the Department of Transportation, can do to prevent future similar events.
She also asked the Inspector General to identify and share existing successful practices being used in commercial aviation that could be shared throughout the system to improve customer service in such situations.
"Passengers have a right to know what to expect when it comes to ground delays," Peters said.
